The transatlantic trio of UK pianist Alexander Hawkins, NY drummer Kate Gentile and Canadian reedist Francois Houle are heard in four masterful spontaneous improvisations in their live performance at the 39th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, Houle performing on clarinets (sometimes two at a time) including the early, deep-note basset clarinet.

The first live recordings from 2021 in Switzerland of NY saxophonist James Brandon Lewis' Molecular concept of composition, inspired by molecular biology and yielding lyrical and sophisticated structures for his players, heard in nine compositions performed with the exemplary quartet of Brad Jones on bass, Chad Taylor on drums, Aruán Ortiz on piano and Lewis on tenor sax.

"Lovely" but also free to take some wild asides, Russian-American pianist Simon Nabatov's quintet with trumpeter Ralph Allessi, saxophonist Sebastian Gille, bassist David Helm and drummer Leif Berger pivots around melodic cores from Nabatov's alluring compositions as he explores themes of love, refraining from cloying approaches through sophisticated and often edgy direction for his players.

The 3rd box set from Slovenian pianist & composer residing in Amsterdam, Miha Gantar, in five CDs collaborating with NYC improvisors and contemporary players performing Gantar compositions and collective improv, in configurations from a quintet, two trios including one with bassist John Hebert & drummer Eric McPherson, a duo with tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, ending with Gantar solo.

Recording in the Merkin Concert Hall on a Steinway Grand Piano, New York pianist Matthew Shipp's seventeen numbered tracks of "The Data" takes listeners through a virtual history of jazz and contemporary improvisation, from beautifully lyrical moments to rapidly complex matrices of expression, balancing his approaches into an absorbing and rewarding album.

A stunningly powerful quartet of electric jazz captured live at the 2022 Freejazz Festival in Saarbrucken, Germany between German alto saxophonist Frank Gratkowski (Skein), Japanese guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi (Ground Zero, Altered States), electric bassist Dan Peter Sundland and drummer Steve Heather, performing four assertive, charged and cathartic collective improvisations.

A standout in the many collaborations between New York pianist Matthew Shipp and Brazil-born, NY-based tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, recording in the studio for eight elegantly lyrical improvisations that invoke both devotional and decisive dialogs, from an introspective "Prayer" to a dissipated "Lustihood", a spellbinding set of fraternal invocations.

Composer and pianist Simon Nabatov sets to music two major works of modern Russian literature — Mikhail Bulgakov's The Fatal Eggs and Heart of a Dog — each interpretation spanning an album's worth of material and performed with an extraordinary septet of chamber jazz performers through piano, sax, trombone, viola, cellos, bass and drums.

The 2nd release from Magda Mayas' Filamental octet of Mayas, Zeena Parkins, Michel Thieke, Christine Abdelnour, Angharad Davies, Rhodri Davies, Aimée Theriot and Anthea Caddy, is a fascinating studio composition developed from individual recordings provided by each musician, assembled into two detailed and cohesive works of impressive contours and almost ceremonial beauty.

Five years after their extraordinary debut album Illuminated Silence, the trio of pianist Izumi Kimura, bassist Barry Guy and drummer Gerry Hemingway present four compositions for free improv, two pieces reflecting on the current state of warfare, with two from pieces Kimura and one each from Guy and Hemingway, the liner notes from each artist explaining the impetus for their work.

During a sabbatical in London, Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio (Day & Taxi) renewed his friendship with percussionist Roger Turner, with whom he had performed in a trio with Urs Leimgruber; meeting at Turner's London flat, they developed the spontaneous language heard on this freely improvised album, Gallio on soprano, alto & C-melody saxophones and Turner on drums & distinctive percussive devices.

Thirteen years after his breakthrough solo saxophone album For Alto, Anthony Braxton is heard in an inventive solo concert on the same instrument, performing at the Altes Schlachthaus Theatre in Bern, Switzerland for a set of original numbered compositions, the standards "Alone Together" and "I Remember You", and two Coltrane pieces: "Giant Steps" and "Naima".

A wild "Afro-Surrealist Anti-Opera" from composer & bassist Nick Dunston, performed with an ensemble of string players (including JACK Quartet) and vocalists, in a gripping hybrid of acoustic and electronic music, using the studio for post-processing to create Dunston's self-described "warped narrative", an understatement for this incredibly passionate, surreal and absolutely impressive work.

Right out of the gate one feels the energy and excitement between Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and NY drummer Jim Black, each pushing the other through strong instrumental character and outrageous technique over nine Tamura compositions recorded in the studio in Switzerland, their first recording in 25 years since their 1999 Buzz Records album White and Blue.

The evolution of NY pianist Matthew Shipp's trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Newman Taylor Baker reaches new heights in this implicitly lyrical album of spontaneous collective playing, eight improvisations warmly captured in the Park West Studios, showing the deep connection that years of collaboration brings to their thoughtfully astute and imaginative playing.

A live recording of freely improvised improv captured at All Hallows Church in High Laver, Essex in 2023 from the trio of AMM drummer and Matchless label-leader Eddie Prévost, Zürich and Maastricht trumpeter Silvan Shmid, and London double bassist Tom Wheatley of the group Widdershins, heard in three investigative conversations of great creative drive.

27 concise poems written and read by saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, punctuated by 9 musical interludes between McPhee on soprano sax and Chicago reedist Ken Vandermark on clarinet and bass, fortifying McPhee's captivating words that mix life observations among jazz references to Dolphy, Monk, Brötzmann, Coleman, &c.; a truly embraceable "book" of poetry.

Wearing the cloak of 60's pyschedelic organ trios modernized in approach and maturity, this is the 8th album from the Swedish improvising, prog-oriented rock band Elephant9, presenting six new compositions from keyboardist Stale Storlokken (Supersilent, Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns) performed with Nikolai Haengsle on electric bass and Torstein Lofthus on drums.

A great set of 11 succinct songs and instrumentals from multi-instrumentalist, prog icon Bob Drake of Thinking Plague, The Science Group, VRIL, and Peter Blegvad fame, vignettes that play with pop formats in insidious ways around recurring Drake themes including a Planet of Dogs, three rustic tales, and a perturbing room in the tower, all noted in a colored foldout poster with lyrics.

A complement to the New Braxton House Lorraine box, these live performances of Anthony Braxton's Lorraine system are performed in four European cities by Braxton himself on alto, soprano & sopranino saxophones, James Fei on sopranino & alto saxophones, Chris Jonas on alto & tenor saxophonse, Ingrid Laubrock on soprano & tenor saxophones, and Andre Vida on baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones.

Driven by compelling rhythms and subtle interactions that wind around them, the trio of guitarist Oren Ambarchi, bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin expand their Ghosted concept in this second album, four diverse pieces fusing "funk-jazz heads, polyrhythmic skeletons, ambient pastorals, post-kraut drones and shimmering soundtrack reveries".

The long-running quartet of percussionist Heinz Geisser, bassist Fridolin Blumer, pianist Reto Staub and trombonist Robert Morgenthaler have for years extended their 4-tet with a 5th guest, here asking vibraphonist Christopher Dell to join them in the studio after a successful live performance in the spring of 2022, capturing this spectacular, wide-ranging example of collective improvisation.

A startlingly exciting album of piano trio jazz from three creative innovators, in the followup to the 2022 debut of the Swedish Space Trio of Lisa Ullen on piano, Elsa Bergman on double bass and Anna Lund on drums, recording in the studio for eight collective improvisations of extremely well matched, highly interactive and exhilarating modern improv.

Capturing an exciting and cohesive live performance at Krakow's Alchemia club, documenting the first duo encounter between Chicago reedist Ken Vandermark and UK bassist Barry Guy, in nine spontaneous duets and soliloquies; Guy's dynamic bass explorations and Vandermark's versatility converge in an inspired interplay of rhythmic energy, textural innovation, and lyrical intensity.

Eight distinctive works for electronics and sound from the alter ego of Roger H. Smith, using noise, percussive elements and unusual synthetics, layered around static and arpeggiated rhythms and punctuated with strange asides, the works run from 3:14 to 18:37 and were developed over a year and half; an excellent introduction to the sonic diversity Chefkirk revels in.

"100% improvised, one take, no edits" from New York pianist Matt Mitchell's solo album in four extended improvisations of impressive detail and creative direction, eschewing any particular style while crossing many, Mitchell's technical skills making complex passages clear even when he names them as abstruse, an impressive accomplishment and an absorbing album of solo piano improv.

Lisbon contemporary flutist and improviser Carlos Bechegas, an associate of Carlos Zingaro and his electroacoustic trio, joins violist Ernesto Rodrigues and long-time collaborator Carlos Santos in a uniquely electronic, chamber-oriented, mysteriously crepuscular improvisation captured live at Casa do Comum, Lisbon, Portugal during the 2024 "SpectraLx" event.

Three configurations of delicately detailed, reductionist electroacoustic improv from the Greek Eventless Plot trio of Vasilis Liolios (inside piano, e-bow piano, objects & psaltiri), Yiannis Tsirikoglou (objects, guitar, MAX/MSP) and Aris Giatas (piano), in one piece as a trio, then with guest Chris Cundy on bass clarinet, and a third with Louis Portal on percussion.

An intense album of pyschedelic and subliminally detailed electroacoustic improvisation from the Portuguese quintet of Miguel A. Garcia on electronics, Abdul Moimeme on guitar & metals, Alex Reviriego on double bass, Ernesto Rodrigues on piano harp & viola and Carlos Santos on electronics, a powerful live set recorded in 2018 at Le Larraskito Kluba in Rekalde, Bilbao.

With an impressive resume in improvised and contemporary forms, French saxophonist Violaíne Gestalder presents three major conceptual works for multiple players, using studio layering to perform all parts herself on soprano sax, voice & effects, a comprehensive, yearning, powerful and often mysteriously beautiful album that draws on her skills as a composer, improviser and experimenter.

With the nearly telepathic communication that only a father & son duo could have, Lisbon violist and Creative Sources label leader Ernesto Rodridgues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues recorded these two string improvisations live at Cossoul in Lisbon during the "Esta Noite Improvisa-se", a melding of remarkable technique, concentration and profound expression.

Improvising collaborators, percussionist Stephen Flinn and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues join with Irish improviser and composer Roy Carroll, a member of Splitter Orchestra and who works with the amplification and signal processing of diverse objects, here the trio performing an extended improvisation of exotic and transformative sonic interaction through unusual, encompassing soundscapes of exotic and transformative sonic interaction.

Using a democratic compositional concept of cues that any of the musicians can employ to redirect all players into new structures, leading to exemplary improv from the core quintet of Steph Richards on trumpet & flugelhorn, Joshua White on piano, Stomu Takeishi on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drumset, plus Max Jaffe replacing Cleaver on drums & sensory electronics for one live track.

The chameleonic styles of Sean Ono Lennon are in full force on this instrumental record, merging rock, jazz, experimental and cinematic styles in captivating ways, performed with the spectacular ensemble of Devon Hoff (bass), Yuka Honda (electronics), Johnny Mathar (drums), João Nogueira (Wurlitzer), Ches Smith (drums), Michael Leonhart (trumpet) & Mauro Refosco (percussion).

A new book of compositions and four interesting interpretations of Billy Strayhorn songs from trumpeter Dave Douglas' premier of a new quartet with tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and two members of the post-rock trio Son Lux — guitarist Rafiq Bhatia and drummer Ian Chang — in a lyrically embraceable and sophisticated album dedicated to the gifts of life and music we all share.

The long-running Silt Trio led by DC bassist and composer Luke Stewart, with Brian Settles on tenor sax and either drummer Trae Crudup or Chad Taylor, in their debut for Pi Recordings with seven Stewart compositions founded around his deep grooves; playful and sophisticated work that leave room for tremendous soloing and support from each trio configuration.

An album to absorb and get excited over, as Matt Lavelle pursues a long-running dream to bring his 12 Houses Orchestra to record, here in an incredible collection of compositions, just the first set of a larger concept of solid jazz pieces that pivot on astrology and numerology as reflected in time signature, bar lines, melody notes, chords, and intervals; powerful, lyrical, spectacular work!

A collaboration between the working trio of bass clarinetist Jason Stein, double bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Adam Shead, adding pianist Marilyn Crispell, initiated by Smith & Crispell's admiration of painter Cy Twombly, whose artwork graces this album's cover, recorded live and complete in the studio after two live concerts between the quartet; masterful collective improv!

Remastering and restoring Marion Brown's 1967 Impulse! album with Grachan Moncure III, Dave Burrel, Stanley Cowell, Sirone, Beaver Harris & Bobby Capp, and his 1968 album on the Calig label with Gunter Hampel, Steve McCall, Ambrosa Jackson & Buschi Niedergall; two albums of essential "New Thing" work through fascinating composed forms by Brown, plus Archie Shepps' "Delicado"; essential.

Originally formed in 2005 by guitarist Pedro Gomes as a Portuguese free rock group, this Lisboa-based band has transformed into this burning quartet that bridges rock and free improv in both savage and brooding moments, from the superb quartet of Gomes on guitar, Pedro Sousa on saxophone, Gabriel Ferrandini on drums and Miguel Abras on electric bass.

Appropriately recording in New Jersey in the Van Gelder Studios, the North Carolina sax & drum duo of Brent Bagwell and Seth Nanaa stand in the shadows of Coltrane & Ali or McHenry & Cyrlle on their fourth release, a 2-LP, 180gm red-vinyl album of swinging, structured free jazz with a lyrically inclined outside attitude; twelve tracks of concise and compelling dialogs.

A superb and extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.

Trumpeter Luís Vicente joins the Spanish saxophonist Liba Villavechia's Trio with double bassist Alex Reveriego and drummer Vasco Trilla for a studio album of four Villavecchia compositions, and one each from Reviriego and Vicente, propelling the band into hard swinging free improv balanced with introspective abstraction and sonic extensions; masterful.

A step into a darker world than Gorilla Mask from the debut of baritone saxophonist Peter Van Huffel's bass-less quartet Callisto with Lina Allemano on trumpet, Antonis Anissegos on piano & electronics and Joe Hertenstein on drums, a solid jazz quartet that shies from clichŽ in devilishly deep collective interplay fostered by Van Huffel's inventive compositions.

Twenty years of activity and advancement is heard in this fourth album from the dynamic tuba power trio of tubist Sergio Carolino, guitarist Mario Delgado & drummer Alexandre Frazao, an electric jazz unit of deep power and drive, on this album leaving behind cover tunes that included Deep Purple and Thelonious Monk to focus on compositions from each band member.

Multi-reedist Michael Moore presents works from his catalog with the powerfully flexible 19-piece NDR Big Band, drawing from the history of his Ramboy label, including a tribute to Stravinsky, expanding a trio for clarinets, rearranging an Ellingtonian piece originally written for Available Jelly, and the title track, written for his mother as the first recording for Fragile Quartet.

The current Polwechsel quartet of Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr and Burkhard Beins — merging improvisation and contemporary forms for outstandingly paced and conceptualized performance — are joined by luminaries John Butcher, Klaus Lang, Magda Mayas, Andrea Neumann and Peter Ablinger, released in a deluxe 4-LP box set with a 32-page booklet.

Focused around a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter titled "A Lost Chord", West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser invokes the spirit of Procter's words through a stunningly beautiful album of both contemplative and technically excellent work, his first solo album performed on the lower tuned baritone guitar, in 10 tracks inspired by Frith, Xenakis, Evan Parker, Ligeti, &c.
Includes a free copy of Trouble with the Treble while quantities last!

The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!

The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!

Four innovative and creative pianists performing solo at the Western Front between 1985 and 2015--Anthony Davis, Paul Plimley, Al Neil, John Kameel Farah--compiled on this extraordinary LP, the 2nd essential archive from one of Canada's most important performance spaces.

A 12-hour collection over 12 CDs of composer Anthony Braxton's Ghost Trance Music (GTM), a compositional system he developed with his superlative Tri-Centric Vocal Ensemble, GTM allowing the ensemble to generate a performance in real time in a mix of sung, spoken, and non-verbal utterances, with unpredictable and surprising results that reveal fascinating layers with each listen.

Newly Distributed in 2021: Composer and jazz master Anthony Braxton performing on piano in a septet with saxophonists Jackson Moore and Andre Vida, bassist Eivind Opsvik and drummer Mike Szekely, exploring the compositions of Lennie Tristano plus peers Billy Bauer, Connie Crothers, Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca, &c.

Newly Distributed in 2021: Limited edition DVD plus audio files of two extended sets bringing saxophonist Anthony Braxton and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum together live at Bezanson Recital Hall in Amherst, MA in 2010, performing compositions by both artists.

Newly Distributed in 2021: Trillium E is the first-ever studio recording of an Anthony Braxton opera, a deluxe 4-disc set of this surreal and witty installment in Braxton's ongoing Trillium cycle, and includes a booklet with libretto, photos, and critical essays.

Impressive experimental approaches to organized recordings of rhythmic and melodic percussion, a mix of quirky and curious samples & loops, spoken word, field recordings and inexplicable origins, captivating the listener in concise and diverse expositions and dynamic pacing, a journey in "pleasingly" upbeat passages and moments of awe and contemplation.

The first volume in an ongoing collaboration between composers Kenneth Kirschner and Joseph Branciforte, this work explores the application of software-based compositional techniques — including algorithmic processes, generative systems, and indeterminacy — performed in a superb ensemble including members of Flux Quartet and International Contemporary Ensemble.

Known as a jazz bassist, Torbjörn Zetterberg mostly steps away from the big strings for a series of multitrack studio compositions on a variety of instruments electronic & acoustic, plus samples and voice, all performed by Zetterberg himself (with Konrad Agnas and Anna Hogberg adding input on a couple of tracks); powerful, urgent, impressive works from a truly well-rounded musician.

After a 4-week residency in 2018 at The Burlington in Chicago, the quartet of Paul Giallorenzo (keys & electronics), Charlie Kirchen (bass), Ryan Packard (drums, electronics) and Ben LaMar Gay (cornet & electronics) workshopped their exploratory approach to free electric improv for 6 months before recording this mesmerizing version live at Chicago's Hungry Brain.

Merging disparate styles into music that is clearly jazz-based, warm and beautifully structured, Chicago drummer and composer Charles Rumback's 7th album as a leader assembles a large group of luminaries including Jim Baker, Ron Miles, Jason Stein, and Greg Ward for a set of instrumentals and songs that are effusive but never sentimental, a beautiful balance.

Skronky multi-faceted NY Downtown-style improvisation with an electric edge from the quintet of Chris Pitsiokis on alto sax, winds, electronics & samples, Wendy Eisenberg on electric guitar, Richard Lenz on electric bass, Kevin Murray on acoustic & electronic drums and Nick Neuburg on percussion, rolling and rollicking through riffs and scrabbly exploration.

Having worked together as members of the Kidd Jordan Quartet, pianist Joel Futterman and bassist William Parker recorded these collective duo improvisations in the studio in New York City in 2020, a perfect match of technical mastery pushing the boundaries of free playing through creative use of tonality, rhythm, and harmony from two extraordinarily compatibile improvisers.

A powerful, spiritual and warmly dynamic album of international and cross-cultural free improvisation meticulously recorded live at Jazzfest Berlin in 2022 from the trio of German reedist Peter Brötzmann on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Chicago drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, and Moroccan guembri player and vocalist Majid Bekkas.

After shattering the mouthpiece he had used for years, tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman searched for a replacement, choosing the same mouthpiece used by Paul Desmond, provoking a shift in style to more melodic lines, as heard in this studio album performed with the exemplary quartet of pianist Matthew Shipp, double bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey.

An enthusiastic and energetically powerful trio meeting between three masters--Oliver Schwerdt on grand piano & percussion, Barry Guy on double bass and Baby Sommer on drums & percussion--performing live in 2021 at naTo, in Leipzig for two extended improvisations of remarkable communication, incredible virtuosity, but most importantly, incredible and compelling creative drive!

UK Composer David Pett's Remote Viewers present two large works: "Inside the Blizzard" in five parts of configurations from solo to quintet; and "Trivia", a quintet work in eight parts; solid, compelling work of forceful confidence from members Adrian Northover, Sue Lynch, Caroline Krabbel & Petts on sax, John Edwards on bass, Hutch Demouilpied on trumpet and Rosa Theodora on piano.

The third collaboration between sound and electronic artists Bruno Duplant and Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) is a darkly heavy and dramatic work of subtle motion that slowly unfolds and shifts through vast sonic environments, fueled by acousmatic sources that take the listener to the edge of darkness and then pulls them back in warm waves or rich ambiance.

The first full-length collaboration between Portuguese double bassist Gonçalo Almeida and Netherlands sound artist Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, born from the soundtrack to Lex Reitsma's documentary about photographer Koos Breukel, including additional recordings to create this beautiful long-form drone merging rich electronics with Gonçalo's powerfully textured harmonics.

Drawing on a far-ranging set of influences--jazz, rock, contemporary, surf & exotica--California-born improvising guitarist Simon Hanes (of Trigger, who covered Zorn's Bagatelles) now resides in NYC, appropriately releasing an album of eclectic, generally upbeat, sometimes quirky, typically melodic instrumentals performed with an octet ensemble of incredible musicianship.

Documenting six live performances with Anthony Braxton's Lorraine Trio featuring trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, accordionist/vocalist Adam Matlock, and Anthony Braxton, plus four studio recordings featuring Braxton, saxophonist James Fei, and bassists Zach Rowden and Carl Testa, in a solid box set of 10 CDs in five gatefold wallets with a 28 page booklet of notes by Anthony Braxton.

Influenced by the New York School of composers (Cage, Feldman, &c.), composer Paul Paccione revisits and revises five of his compositions written 40 years prior, performed by a 10-piece configuration of London's Apartment House; beautifully contemplative pieces linked together through common threads, the momentum of individual moments absorbed by the presence of the larger work.

Three label leaders come together for this extraordinary 2023 concert at Elastic Arts in Chicago--Aerophonic's Dave Rempis on alto, tenor & baritone saxophones; Driff Records' Pandelis Karayorgis on piano; Amalgam Records' Bill Harris on drums--along with bassist Jakob Heinmann, this exceptional free jazz performance cementing the bond between Boston and Chicago with a hope for more!

Extending their initial collaboration "One Moment in Time", released during the pandemic and picked up by Apple Music's Pure Meditation playlist, the trio of Stijn Huwels on electric guitar & pedals, Cok van Vuuren on dobro & mando guitars, and Michel Banabila on keys, sampler, voice & granular fx, extend their catalog with "Across the Sky", a beautifully warm work of layered drones.

A collection of works from Netherlands composer Michel Banabila, including a piece developed with saxophonist Dave Liebman and previously released only digitally; a work with Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek); a work with Pierre Bastien; and excerpts from scores for Yin Yue's choreography in two works: "Somewhere" for New York Live Arts and "Timeless Tide" for BalletMet.

Five extended improvised piano solos from Joel Futterman recording in his home base of Virginia Beach, each an incredible journey in free playing that quotes and comments on the history of jazz piano, living up to the album's title through insight, perceptiveness, wit and intuition, Futterman's technique and mastery expressing narratives of amazing confidence and solid direction.

Merging members of Ensemble SuperMusique with a subset of the ensemble Chorale Joker, Joane Hétu presents four premieres that explore our experiences during the pandemic, SuperMusique focused on electronics and synthetic instruments and offset by a wind quintet, the music and vocal interactions often explosive, reflecting on our mental states during an overwhelming cultural malady.

Since 1997 the duo of Montreal sonic experimenters Christof Migone and Alexandre St-Onge, both members of Klaxon Gueule, have performed under the name "Undo", here declaring themselves "undone", presenting nine tracks of of live & studio recordings from 1997-2013 of often bizarre yet ever innovative cracked electronics, acoustics, voice, and inexplicable sound; weird and wonderful!

A fascinating work dedicated to improvising cellist Remy Belanger de Beauport written by Montreal composer Joane Hétu and performed by the large Ensemble SuperMusique with Jean Derome, Lori Freedman, Scott Thomson, Diane Labrosse, Danielle Palardy Roger, Pierre Tanguay, &c., commissioned and performed for the Ensemble's 40th anniversary and expanded for this studio edition.

Highlighting the parallel to changes in birdsong in urban areas because of anthropogenic ambient noise, this diverse ensemble demonstrates the evolution of improv approaches through unique origins and backgrounds; with Chad Fowler (stritch, flute), Shanyse Strickland (French Horn), Sana Nagano (violin), Melanie Dyer (viola), Ken Filiano (bass) and Anders Griffen (drums).

The second album from New York trumpeter Peter Evan's band Being and Becoming stretches out his concepts in five extended works that dovetails superb contemporary jazz — integrating extended techniques and solid vibraphone work — with beautifully rich and explorative passages, masterfully performed with Joel Ross (vibes), Nick Jozwiak (bass) and Michael Shekwoaga (drums).

The second album from New York trumpeter Peter Evan's band Being and Becoming stretches out his concepts in five extended works that dovetails superb contemporary jazz — integrating extended techniques and solid vibraphone work — with beautifully rich and explorative passages, masterfully performed with Joel Ross (vibes), Nick Jozwiak (bass) and Michael Shekwoaga (drums).

A wild and adventurous concert and one of the highlights of the 39th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville from the electric improvising quartet of Elliott Sharp on electric guitar & electronics, Colin Stetson on bass, alto & tenor saxophones, Billy Martin on drums & percussion and Payton Macdonald on marimba, vibraphone & African xylophone.

A collaboration that goes back 30 years, French improvising bassist Joëlle Léandre and avant accordionist Pascal Contet in their fifth album together, turning from their more typically extended conversations to a series of 10 "Miniatures", shorter and diverse dialogs recorded live in 2022 at the beautiful Arsenal Concert Hall in Metz, France.

Zeitkratzer director and pianist Reinhold Friedl meets with Martin Siewert (Radian, Fake the Facts, Dry Thrust) for three improvised explorations on piano, guitar and electronics, through the course of powerful transitions building from deep introspection into prickly, bellicose interaction, yielding to a brooding finale of subtle electronics and punctuation; profound.

Copenhagen composer Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard's long form work refers to units of compositional structure in systems of instruments, each a "bubble" that interacts and collides creating fluctuations, ruptures and tension release in an hypnotic sonic tapestry, performed by Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini on violins, viola, cellos and harmonica; mesmerizing.